Friday, 22 February 2008

If you're wondering why it's been so quiet on the blog this week, we've been hard at work producing the March/April issue of New Humanist, which comes out the first week in March. There's loads of great stuff in there, details of which will be revealed in due course.

In the meantime, prepare yourselves for the shock story of the day – senior British Muslims are deeply troubled to learn that Walkers' crisps contain traces of alcohol. According to The Times a small amount of alcohol is used in the production process "as a chemical agent to extract flavour".

Shuja Shafi, chair of the Muslim Council of Britain's food standards committee, was quick to express his discomfort at the news: “Certainly we would find it very offensive to have eaten food with alcohol.”

Despite the outrage, Walkers were unmoved by demands to include a warning on crisp packets, with a spokesperson saying “There is not enough room on the packaging to list things beyond allergy-causing ingredients that can make people ill. A minimal amount of alcohol is used to extract the flavour of some crisps.”